Berrimilla Down Under Mars Status Report 21 June 2008

SATURDAY, 21 JUNE 2008

And up it came, like a daisy through a cowpat…

With Heath Robinson and Dave B as chief advisers, we tilted the boom so that the mast would take some of the weight, added preventers, a bit of an old washing machine as a scotchman, huge borrowed strop and chainhoist, disconnected everything except the electrics, cut some wooden blocks and shims, added block and tackle from mast inside cabin to pull forwards – trial lift seemed to work – small adjustment of strops on top of engine – go for it and up she rose, moved forwards about a foot and down again on the blocks with the inside tackle holding the back up. Even then, impossible to get socket on the Offending Member but got it started with an open spanner and lo! a bolt in the hand…knife blade hammered between flange and engine, followed by succession of screwdrivers to break the sealant seal and off it came.

Woooohooo! Huge thanks to Dave B for loan of bits and pieces and his immensely valuable time away from the factory.

Now we await the vagaries of the US postal serv ice, meantime opportunity to clean out engine bay, clean primer pump valves, troothbrush all the nuts and bolts and engine mounts and do an inventory of all appendages to ensure that all are properly crossed that it all goes back together again.

The first step…

POSTED BY BERRIMILLA DOWNUNDERMARS AT 23:11

Wouldn’t you know!

One step at a time Mick – and a bit of trial and error and I discovered that there’s one bolt on the gearbox flange that I can’t no-how get a spanner on. I’ve curled myself into the tiny space around the side of the donk, squeezed over the top, borrowed extensions from Dave, and in one particularly contorted position I can just feel the socket and the bolt into contact but there’s no way that I can get them to engage – and even if I could, getting it done up again would be one of those things that might end up with crossed threads and the beginning of disaster.

And I’m one big bruise where pointy bits of the donk engage with my ribs — a long and often frustrating day for me, but McQ and Kimbra found some silicone spray and McQ went up the mast and sorted the track and they are getting the 30 or so paper charts we will need for the NWP in order. And they cooked dinner on the boat, using some of our perishable broccoli and other goodies, with some boxed hamburger bits left over from a meal at ther Grand.

So – today is lifting the engine and movfing it forwards into the cabin. Dave B is going to help and lend us a chain hoist and we will use the boom as a crane, properly stabilised. We can’t rest the engine on its sump because it has a valve under it, so we will organise blocks to stand it on. I think I have worked out what else has to be disconnected, but we’ll work it out as we go. IFF it all works, and we get the box off, we then have to dismantle the various levers and the flywheel flange to put back on the new one when it arrives. So all hands to the pumps this morning.

And then – and then we have to put it all back together.

POSTED BY BERRIMILLA DOWNUNDERMARS AT 17:04